Friday, April 04, 2014

We’re only a month into our Baby Led Weaning journey but I already have a few favorite items that I wanted to share with you! This is more of an early stage list as I’m sure things will change up a bit as Weston gets more and more experience with solids. Although a few on the list will be sticking around for the long haul!

1. Big Mouth Bibs: HELLO! I love these things! By far my favorite item on the must have list! I’ve tried a few other bibs but these actually do what they promise! The “Big Mouth” part stays open unlike other bibs of this nature and catches all the food bits that fall. The bib itself is wide enough that I can leave his clothes on while he eats (yes baby led weaning is messy) and he stays relatively clean. I also love the materiel it’s made of; super easy to clean and it’s bendable so it doesn’t get in the way of his highchair or block his little hands while he eats. All of which were problems I came across with other pocket style bibs. Annnd yet another great thing about this bib, the pocket unsnaps. Yes I know, genius! This makes it tons easier to clean. Once we’ve gotten a couple uses out of it I just throw it in with Weston’s other laundry and it washes up great! I do wish the prints on the bibs weren’t so kidish but oh well! It is a babies. I bought our Big Mouth Bibs at Buy Buy Baby but you can also order them from Walmart and Amazon.

2. Innobbay Straw Cup: I was on the fence about this cup at first. I did some research before making the baby cup jump and decided to follow the new trend and say no to sippy cups as our transition cup. I know, I know, it’s something new every week but this made sense to me so I went for it. It took 5 days and a little trial and error but I can officially say that Weston can now drink from a straw which is kind of awesome! His ability to be able to drink from a straw is all because of this guy! I tried a couple other straw cups and yes even a sippy cup along the way but this one is by far my favorite! Love that it’s clear including the straw so I can see what’s going on in there! You know how gunk tends to collect in plastic straws. It even comes with a little cleaning kit. You can also purchase replacement parts which I thought was pretty neat. Its spill proof. Leak proof. It’s easy for him to drink out thanks to the weighted straw that keeps the flexible straw in the liquid. Seriously Weston has flipped this cup every which way and is still able to get water out of it. The other straw cup I tried was super hard to suck water out of. Especially for my impatient child. The negative about this little guy is that it’s not cheap. I bought ours at Buy Buy Baby and paid close to $14. Should have used a gosh darn 20% off coupon! Even though it isn't not cheap I will be buying a couple others. That says a lot coming from this cheap gal. I recommend removing the orange flip lid until your little one really gets the hang of holding it. It easily snaps back on when you’re ready to use it.

3. Annabel Karmel Mash and Serve Bowl: We used this quite often the fist couple of weeks. It makes it SUPER easy to mash things up a little for baby. As they get a little more experienced with solids this is something I don’t see us using as much. For now I use it to soften pears, avocados, even apricot chunks that aren’t quite ripe enough. I mush them just enough to soften them up a little but make sure to keep their texture. In the beginning I used this for everything we fed Weston. It’s a handy tool even for parents that are not doing baby led weaning. You can pretty much mash up anything in here. It’s easy to use and quick to clean. You can find it at Buy Buy Baby as well as Amazon.

4. Boon PULP Silicone Teething Feeder: Oh Boon you and all your awesome products!You’ve hit another one out of the park!This feeder is easy to use and very easy clean unlike its mesh counterpart! Are you noticing a theme here? I’m all about simplicity when it comes to this whole BLW thing. Everything on this list makes BLW just that more simple. Okay now onto the product. Weston loves this thing! He has no problem holding onto it and maneuvering it around his mouth. I’ll put cold apple chunks in here when he’s having teething pains. I’ve also used it for avocado which can sometimes be mushy and tricky for little ones to pick up. If we’re if I’m having a snack I’ll put something in the feeder for him to munch on as well so we can sit and have a snack together. I puffy heart this thing! We received our Boon Feeder in our Citrus Lane box but you can find this at you guessed it…..Buy Buy Baby and Amazon.

5. Dish Towels: I’m finally getting some good use out of the massive amount of dish towels we have. I have no idea how we’ve accumulated so many as I’ve never bought them but we have tons! I’m not talking about wash cloths or fluffy hand towels. Nope thin textured dish towels all the way! I feel that they are the easiest to use when cleaning up baby, highchair, and floors post meal time! You can really get in all the knock and crannies and scrub well with them!

Annnnnn just for fun a bonus item!

Bonus: If you don’t already have one get a dog! They’re always eager to assist with clean up! Brady can lick a highchair so clean you wouldn’t even know it was used.

Hope you found this helpful! If you’re a baby led weaning parent and have a favorite baby led weaning product that you love leave it in a comment below. I would love to hear what you enjoy using!